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January, 1917. Elementary Education Circular No. 1. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 

i! (bureau OF EDUCATION. 



THE USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 

A Report of the First Annual Meeting of the National Council of Primary 
Education, Detroit, Mich., February 22, 1916. 

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 

By Ella Victoria Dobbs, 
Professor of Manual Arts, UniversUy of Missciirl, Columbia, Mo. 

A few persons interested in tlie organization of primary teacliers assembled 
at Cincinnati in February, 1915, at the time of the meeting of the department 
of superintendence. The group consisted of 30 representative women from 
various parts of the country. Finding tliemselves of one mind, they decided to 
take immediate steps toward an organization whicli would stand for a greater 
use of activities in the primary school, more freedom of method, and a closer 
cooperation with the kindergarten and witli the grades above. 

It was desired to bring together all persons whose interest touches the primai*y 
school at any point, including not only primary teacliers and supervisors but 
also teachers of special subjects whose work includes the primary grades, 
principals of buildings, superintendents, and patrons. That the organization 
might have the benefit of the breadth of view of these various groups the invi- 
tation was limited only to interest in primary education. In order to centralize 
responsibility and avoid the delay which often comes from inability of members 
of committees living in different places to act promptly it was decided to have 
but one officer for the first year. This chairman was to have power to call 
to her assistance any member of the organization, and all agreed to respond 
promptly. This promise has been faithfully kept. 

It was decided at the Cincinnati meeting to form an elastic organization 
which would devote itself to informal discussions rather than set programs. It 
seemed better to make every effort to have the problems in which the organiza- 
tion was interested discussed on general programs which would be heard by a 
mixed group of people rather than to concentrate upon additional programs for 
the narrower group. It was decided also to attempt to bring about a greater 
cooperation in communities through the formation of local groups for the study 
of local problems. Several such groups have been organized. It was also urged 
at a meeting in Oakland that effort be made to investigate the extent to which 
the various forms of " activities " are in use in the advanced schools of the 
country. To this end an informal investigation has been inaugurated. 
70914°— 17 



Collect*! set. 



u.<- 



2 USE OF ACTIVITIES IIST THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 

EXPERIMENTATION IN THE SCHOOL OF CHILDHOOD. 

By Meredith Smith, 
Direclor of the School of Childhood, University of Pittshuiyh, nttshingli. Fa. 

The keynote in education in tliis country to-day is experimentation, discovery, 
searcli for new and better metliods and equipment, and more adequate subject 
matter. 

Tlie Scliool of Cliildliood of the University of Pittsbvirgh offers an unusual 
opportunity for conducting an educational experiment. In the first place the 
teacliers are free to cari-y on the work in the way tliey consider best, unliam- 
pered by a ready-made course of study or by the necessity for making the work 
of one year a direct preparation for that of the succeeding ; thus attention may 
be centered on the needs of the child at each particular period. The school is 
small and there are no purely administrative problems or difficulties that must 
be taken into consideration. 

Two years ago the work was instituted witli the younger group, children 
from 4 to 6 years of age. This year the school has been enlarged and the 
problem of the primary grade is under way. Tlie plan is to carry tlie children 
on from one year to the next in tlie endeavor to worlc out a consecutive scheme 
of etlucation. 

The aim is not to impose adult luiowledge and accomplishments on children, 
but to afford experiences that appeal to them on their own account and at the 
same time have educational value and significance. The school situation is 
one in which things are done, and a form of activity carried on that is con- 
tinually demanding the exercise of the child's own initiative rfnd power. School 
studies find their phice in this scheme as the means by which ends may l)e more 
successfully and effectively realized. 

The material that constitutes school studies. Dr. Dewey has shown, originated 
in experience ; it grew out of the problems that came up in relation to what 
l>eople were doing, the activities they were carrying on. In guided educational 
play the same thing is true in regard to the experience of cliildren. Reading, 
>vriting, number, phases of physics, nature study, geography, etc.. appear in 
their experience and liave significance and meaning because of the relation thus 
afforded to social life and to human wants and needs. 

The usual mistake in education is to give children subject matter that has 
been absti-acted from experience, organized in a logical, adult way, and then 
expect them to master this ready-made material just as it stands, unrelated to 
j:ny use or purpose which it may have. These things have value to adults only 
in so far as they assist tliem to attain their ends. When school studies are put 
back into experience where they appear as means to desirable ends, childi-en 
have a motive for acquiring tliem and mastery is thus facilitated. 

Where things are being done there must be material provided to do with. 
To meet (his need the primary room and the room devoted to the younger 
1 hildren are supplied with large floor blocks, peg-lock blocks, trains, dolls, 
hannners, etc. There is a fair amount of floor space which the children keep 
about two-thirds covered with their constructive representations the greater 
part of the time. They preserve what they have made from day to day, 
adding to it as they work out their ideas more fully. Just now they have 
wliat they call the " City of Pittsburgh," with its houses, stoi-es, an apartment 
I'.duso. and all the play and incidental con.struction work that goes with it. 
Each child has an occupiUion of some kind that he or she is engaged in, building 
<'.>nstruction, liousekeeping, manufacturing, mercai.tile business, railway and 
steamship construction and management. 



MAR *16 1917 



USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 3 

Very eai'ly in the midst of tliese experiences tlie need for money as a 
medimn of exchange arose. The ticl^ets for tlie steamship were $1 or 50 cents, 
according to the location of tlie seat in the bow or stern of the boat. The 
children made their own money and incidentally learned to make numbers. 
Some writing was necessary in labeling the tickets and also in labeling the 
articles in the various stores. 

The problem of transportation was one that abs()rl)ed a great deal of interest 
and attention. The question of how certain things are packed for shipping 
was considered, and it was foinid necessary on one occasion to telephone 
to a grocery store to verify experience and to get further information. Barrels 
were made of pumpkins, apples, etc., (Mailman heads), and sacks for flour, 
rice, coffee, nuts, etc., which the children brought from home. 

As the packages brought were opened and examined they led to talks of 
how different products grow and where they come from. The sacks had to 
be labeled because when they were tied the contents could not be identified. 
This made further need for writing and, consequently, reading. The children 
decided on labels 1 inch by 2 and cut these out with the aid of a ruler. 

One morning a storekeeper was urging the railway manager to send iip the 
supplies lying in the station which she had ordered, but he persisted in an 
attitude of stoical indifference and inattention which was finally accoiuited 
for by this statement: " iTou can't talk to me; I'm 5,000 miles away." The 
question was asked: " llow can she get word to you?" He replied: "She 
will have to telegraph." Two stations with telegraphic apparatus were con- 
structed, thumb tacks being used for keys, the message was sent, and in due 
time the supplies were delivered. 

Dr. Dewey has analyzed reasoning as a process that takes place when in the 
pursuit of ends pi-eseiiting some difficulty sve form an inference or hypothesis 
of possible nipans of solution and, acting on the basis of that inference, we 
prove or test it, and thus verify or nullify it. This is the method of science, 
the method of progress, of getting at the new, the unknown. It is the method 
that is applied not only to scientific discovery, but to every experience in 
which human beings ax-e adjusting themselves to new situations, or in which 
they are attainijig new ends or purposes in daily life and occupations. 

In play of this character a continual demand is made upon the child for 
the exercise of reflective thought or reasoning. A child's ends are different 
from an adult's and his control of means is slight, but his mind acts in 
the same way and is develoi)ed by the same process. When a child who 
is endeavoring to construct a water tank for his engine says, after search, " Oh, 
this block will make it," he hns formeil an hypothesis for the solution of his 
problem, and as he acts on this inference, he tests its worth, checks up the 
reasonableness of his conclusion, and thus develops the power of judgment. 

It would seem from tlie prevailing scheme of education that it is assumed that 
the child's mind is <»f a very different character from the adult's, that it has 
somehow a peculiar powei- f>f absorbing a wide variety of facts of knowledge and 
of storing them for future use. A large part of this knowledge is forgotten, 
much of it is of no value to children or adults, and phases of it become obsolete 
by the time the child is grown : yet many hesitate to eliminate any of it for fear 
l)t>!-liaps the child will not become as cultured as he might have been. 

Any normal adult can at any time gain new facts or knowledge that he may 
desire, but mental habits and attitudes once formed ai'e difficult to break. It is 
upon the fornuition of eflicient mental habits and attitudes that attention shoidd 
he focused, for with this development acquisition of knowledge will tnke cni-e of 
itself. Even though a child's ends are play ends, this habit of initiating ends, of 



4 USE OP ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTAEY SCHOOL. 

forming correct inferences, and of executing purposes, is being formed, and in- 
creasingly his ends will be more complex, more remote, and thus require greater 
organization and control of such means as reading, writing, number, etc., for 
their attainment. Under guidance, after having found a need for the school arts, 
the children abstract these from experience and enjoy practice or drill on them 
for the purpose of developing skill. 

The children in the School of Childhood are learning to be resourceful and in- 
ventive, are developing the power of initiative, ability to conceive ends that are 
desirable and a mastery of the means that make efficient attainment possible. 
Each child's action is in the main directed by his own mind, not another's. This 
does not mean that the teacher is not guiding the situation, but she does it by 
means of suggestion which makes her guidance just another of those agencies 
from which children are continually gaining suggestion for activities they choose 
to carry on. Hers should be more educative because designed for that purpose. 
It is seldom realized to how great an extent in the majority of schools to-day the 
child's activity is governed by another mind, by rules and regulations he has had 
no part in establishing and for which he sees no value. He may not even speak 
or leave his seat without permission. One is reminded of Rousseau's warning 
to the parents and teachers of his day. " You will stultify him by this method," 
he says, " if you are always directing him, always saying to him, go, come, stop, 
do this, do not do that. If your head is always directing his arms, his own head 
will become useless to him." 

Besides the intellectual development affoi-ded by this kind of experience, 
where children are freely playing and working together, there is opportunity 
for real social development and training. The children recognize the need for 
adjusting themselves to other persons if they would successfully attain their 
own purposes, and they learn how to cooperate with others for the advan- 
tage of all. 

The freedom of movement permitted, the lifting and carrying of blocks from 
one place to another, together with the use of the gymnastic apparatus, afford 
opportunity for physical development and bodily control. 

The children will not be able to read as other first-grade children do, but 
they are gaining what is of more value to them, the formation of mental and 
social habits and attitudes and the development of physical health and power. 
Because of this development, ability to read will be attained with much less 
strain on the part of children and teachers as well. 



A PLAN CONDUCIVE TO GREATER FREEDOM. 

By Anna Logan, 
Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Activities ! Freedom ! We are only on the threshold of freedom. We see 
these little children coming to the first grade so full of activity — activity 
which we curb at once by placing them in rows of seats. Yet we hope that 
they will attain their fullest possibility of development in this artificial environ- 
ment ! How shall we change the situation ? 

I go back in thought to a gathering of primary teachers and kindergartners 
years ago in our city, on which occasion there came to us the first suggestion 
of the possibility of carrying over the kindergarten activities into the primary 
grades. Although every first-grade teacher looks with longing upon the freedom 
of the kindergarten, wishing to have the same atmosphere, how does she use 
that which she has? 



USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 5 

Image the crowded conditions in our cities. The rooms are so filled with 
row after row of seats, that there is little room, little chance for freedom, for 
activity. Yet the teacher reaches out in the dark. Do you hear her direct 
the children to get out their boxes of letters to form words and sentences? 
How wasteful of time and energy the performance is ! It is unnecessary to 
explain to this audience that it is not only wasteful but harmful. It is bad 
from the physiological standpoint, because the handling of these letters cjalls 
for greater coordination of muscles than the child at this stage possesses. It 
is likewise bad from the psychological standpoint of habit formation, for the 
child has learned as yet no standards to measure results. Look at his choice 
of " m's " for " n's," his confusion of " p's " for " b's " and " d's." How does 
the teacher correct these results? Hear her comment after passing a few desks: 
" Now, children, get out your boxes, put away the letters, be careful not to 
drop any on the floor." 

The kindergartens of seven schools were overcrowded. There was a long 
waiting list of children asking admittance. As there was no vacant room in 
any of these buildings, it was planned to have morning and afternoon sessions, 
with different teachers in charge of each. 

The kindergartiiers and primary teachers are on the same salary basis; 
therefore the number of teaching hours must relatively be the same. Thus the 
problem arose of filling profitably the time of the kindergartners, who in this 
scheme would be employed only half a day. None of their accustomed social 
duties was to be omitted ; home visiting was not to be neglected ; no planning 
of mothers' meetings was to be changed. These were too important assets to 
be slighted. Yet with the niothers' meetings, conferences, visiting, etc., there 
were some unemployed hours. How should these be used? 

The most profitable plan seemed to be to ask these splendidly trained kinder- 
gartners to help the overworked primary teachers. A meeting was held one 
.•ifternoon to discuss all sides of this proposition. There was objection on the 
liart of some of the primary teachers. They said: "We do not want to teach 
before the kindergartners." The results in most cases, however, have proved 
that this was an unnecessary dread. For while the teacher is teaching one 
.iii-ou]) her companion is rendering valuable aid in supervising the other group. 
But greater good has been accomplished than this. To be worth while the 
content of the formal school subjects nuist be based on real experiences. The 
homes and streets of our crowded down-town districts afford an extremely lim- 
ited horizon for these basal experiences. Now, through the assistance of the 
kindergartner, excursions are possible. The value of excvirsions had always 
been known, but there were " too many lions in the way " for them to be 
feasilile. 

<»iie of the fii-st and most delightful of the trips was to the park in the vicin- 
ity of the school, where every child had an opportunity last fall to help plant 
bullis. That may seem insignificant; but who knows what it means to a child? 
Last September a table in one of oiu- schoolrooms was covered with the prod- 
ucts of the children's gardens. A little boy stood looking wistfully at the 
blos-;(in!S. He remarked, " If I had all of those flowers, I should think J was 
in li^'aven." If each child places a bulb in the ground and has the wonderful 
experience of seeing it Imd and blossom, it is giving him a glimpse of heaven. 

The next visit was to the niarkets. There the class could see the products 
thiit had been brought in from the country. They could begin to catch an idea 
of the source of some of their food supi)ly. The garden and farm are no longer 
unknown quantities to thoni. 

Another diiy they went to the library to see the pictures of Esldmo laqtls. 
Books and pictures were shown and a story told by the librarian. One of the 



6 USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 

chiUli-eu asked, " May we not sing our Eskimo song?" And tlie walls rang with 
the childish voices as they offered their gift in return for the kindness of the 
librarian. On the way home a blacksmith's shop was visited. Here a different 
world was revealed. Through other excursions many experiences have been 
added which have vitalized the regular school work of reading, language, and 
arithmetic. 

"When the children returned to their room they were eager to tell or express 
in various ways what they had seen and done. The results were crude, but 
were the genuine outgrowth of these tours into the new and fascinating scenes. 
Through games, dramatization, and handwork again and again were portrayed 
the pleasures and knowledge gained. The desks and aisles were no great 
hindrance, the children themselves frequently suggesting adaptations. 

In " tripping across the way to see what his neighbor was doing," some one 
would propose that instead of playing this, as it was played in the kinder- 
garten, the aisles would be streets. So back and forth they would skip, repre- 
senting the various occupations seen. The very limitations and hindrances 
afforded fine opportunities for arousing initiative. 

When "Puss in the corner" was played, there being no available corners, 
two or three circles were drawn on the floor. Four children would stand on 
each circle, calling to the one in the center, " Poor Pussy ! Poor pussy ! " He 
answered: "Pussy wants a corner!" As opportunity alTorded those on the 
circle exchanged places. If " Puss " could gain one of the places, the one who 
lost must be " Puss." 

So it can be readily perceived that greater freedom and more activity than 
ever existed before in these first grades has been gained, because of the super- 
vision by the kindergartners, of games, songs, dramatizations, occupntions, 
and excursions. The primary teachers recognize the help that has come to 
them. The kindergartners voice their enjoyment in watching the development 
of the children. 

Though there are many problems not solved in this cooperation, in the at- 
tempt to make the solution we feel there has been growth ; that the school 
seems more like life. "The people perish who have no vision." We are hop- 
ing for at least a glimp.se of the vision that will lead to the wonderful widening 
of the horizon of these children whose needs are so great. 



ONE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER'S TRANSFORMATION. 

By Rachel E. Gregg, 
Supervisor of Trainino, State Normal School, Ilarrisonbitrjj, Va. 

I will tell you this morning of the transformation that has taken place in a 
teacher in one of our piiblic schools in Virginia. She came to us this year 
with a very strong recommendation as an excellent primary instructor and 
supervisor. During the first week of school, when I visited her room, I was 
very much astonished to see all the children sitting still in their seats and 
not a single child looking up to smile at me when I came into the room. Wlien 
I went the next week it was the same; the children were sitting quietly with 
their hands l)ehind their backs. The next time I went it was before school in 
the morning, when the children usually are active, talking to each other, and en- 
joying themselves. There they all sat perfectly still. I said to them : "Are 
you sick this morning, children? What is the trouble? " But they did not 
speak, because they had received no permission. I hardly knew what to do 
with the situation, because several criticisms from students had come to me 



USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 7 

about the room. They said: "This is not what we expect in a piininry room; 
what are we to do when we teach there? " 

In the course of the conversation the teaclier informed me that at her normal 
school she had been told not to smile or permit any freedom among children 
during the first month. I suggested to this teacher that she should go to the 
association meeting in Richmond at Thangskiving, and she did. When she 
came back she asked me whether I would be willing to have the desks taken 
out of the room and some tables put in. I told her I would be very glad to 
have that done and arranged the matter accordingly. But conditions were not 
appreciably changed when I visited the school again. The children still were 
seated in their seats very quietly. I remarked : " Why don't you let them 
build a house? Not a house built for a doll nor a playhouse, but one that 
will represent a proper plan of a house that a child would want to live in." 
So then bcf/an to build a house. I would like you to see the transformation 
that has gone on in that room. I went in the other day ; it was after the 
o'clock bell had rung, and no one heard me come into the room, so interesu-d 
were they in different things. The student teacher was in the corner examining 
something that they had just made. The teacher had really forg(Hten that 
the bell had rung. Others were over in another corner looking at something 
which a child had brought to put in the hoiise. The liou.se itself is rather 
crude. The teacher objected to it at first, but each time I went into tlie i-oom 
I asked her how much the children had done and how much she had done. I 
was afraid it might become rather a sore point after a wliile. but now each 
time she tells me, " I really did nothing except to bring the material here." 
Other times slie said : " I have not even brought the materhil ; tlie children 
have brought everything needed and liave planned these particular pieces of 
furniture for the house." 

This represents a condition exi.sting in many parts of the counti-y. It is a 
difficult situation, because it is hard to convince teachers of the value to be 
found in some vital thing of this character rather than in a book. 

Another noteworthy fact is that parents are .so much more intei-esloil in the 
school work than they were before. Fathers of the children liad sent word 
that if anything was needed for the house they would be very glad to fui-nisli 
it. Different articles have been sent from the children's homes. One little 
child had a box of tools given him for Christmas. The box of tools was 
brought to the schoolroom, and is being used in the building of the house. One 
little child had an idea and suggested that it would be better to paint the 
furniture for the bedroom white. I had insisted that very little money be 
expended, and that they keep an exact account of every cent which was spent, 
because I rather feared the tendency of the teacher would be to make a very 
beautiful house, and I was trying to guard against expense. The little cliildren 
said, " We want to furnish the bedroom in white. How are we going to have 
the furniture white?" Next morning when the teacher came in she found a 
little package on her desk, and upon opening it found a box of white eiiauiel 
paint and a brush. The child had gone home and mentioned the fact and the 
father had bought a box of paint and sent it to the school. 

It means a great deal to have that condition existing there. It means a lireat 
deal if tte parents have an interest in these activities, because the traditional 
school is the thing in which they believe: but when the parents of cbildren 
realize that much is gained froiu tlie natural activities of life it is a sfcp in 
the right direction in the scliooli-oom. It means more to that coinnuiiiity than 
anytliing else. It means the op;>iiing up of a field of activities liiat are needed 



8 USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 

in tlie children's lives. It means that parents are willing to have their children 
play folk games. It means that they will appreciate the value of music and 
drawing and other phases of education outside the traditional settings. 



COOPERATIVE LETTERS. 

By IsoBEL Davidson, 
Supervisor of Primary Instruction, Baltimore County, Md. 

This autumn, in addressing a gathering of teachers, I asked, " What can we 
do to help each other in the solution of this problem of applying the social 
motive in school \^-ork? How can we help each other to better interpretation?" 
One of the enthusiastic girls said, " It would be interesting for each one of us 
l(» write a letter to you, embodying a frank, informal resume of some classroom 
i'xperience in which the social motive has been significant. Any letter un- 
usually rich in suggestion could be read or, better still, printed and distributed 
to the group. This interchange of experience would tend to give us inspiration 
;i!i(l renew ^n\]■ courage to better endeavor." 

I replied, " Very good, indeed. But why would the letter help? " 

The ans^\•er came from the group, "A letter is personal, individual, social. 
We are tired of making formal reports. An informal report would give us an 
opiiortunity to express ourselves freely quite as if we were talking with you 
iihviut something which we have enjoyed and wish to share with others." 

As it is pleasant to anticipate letters rather than to be swamped with a deluge 
of correspondence at one time, it was suggested that the groups be divided 
into relays, each relay to send in letters at certain designated intervals. Thus 
it I'egan; a cooperative plan for the purpose of strengthening the entire teach- 
ing body in the rational application of motivated work. 

Suggestions were given, as follows : Incorporate in your letter your purpose 
and plan of procedure, showing how you link the child's purpose with your 
own ; the motivation of each problem and the reaction of the children noted ; 
evaluate the results ; include samples of children's work, such as letters, oral 
and written composition, handwork ; snapshots of social situations, if these aid 
in clarifying your statements; cooperation of other classes, individuals in the 
conununity and others; anything which will show gain in social efficiency. 

INIany of the letters have proved interesting, showing, as they do, the teach- 
er's grasp of the situation, strong or weak, as the case may be, dependent upon 
her point of view, her mode of attack, and — vision. Some have presented the 
smaller and yet no less significant situation of the socialized recitation, report- 
ing lessons in reading, language, literature, arithmetic, spelling, nature, etc., 
indicating the added gain to the school in the social spirit throughout, the in- 
creased interchange of class groups and grades from the lowest to the highest. 
Others have taken the larger social situation and shown how the daily class- 
room work in the various subjects has been motivated in r(>lation to it, as, for 
instance, preparing for an assembly, a birthday party, a pioneei' l^arty, a 
'■ special occasion,". Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other festivals. 

A fom-fli-grade class became a coherent working unit, through the prolilem of 
creating ii play from the Viking tales, at first for their own enjoyment, then 
for otlii>r cjnsses, and later for invited guests of the community. The making 
of the play ocfuiiic-d several language and literature periods, with story-telling, 
oral c-omposition as well as written, taking the form of prologue character 
sketches, letter writing, invitations, dramatization, versification, music. The 



USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 9 

making of costumes, begun in tlie classroom, became an out-of-school activity 
entirely without urging. All of this served to stimulate the boys and girls in 
the attainment of better voice control, improved oral speech and reading, and 
all the rest. But the most interesting thing in tlie whole situation to those 
of us who were observing the progress of the work was the fact that interest 
was maintained for a long time after the initial event by the pupils themselves. 
It had become a part of their lives. They lived the story agiiin -ahA again, l)y 
means of a bit of costume worn as they went about their work, e. g., to find 
each little girl transformed into a Gyda bv a golden headband, spread a kind 
of halo about ordinary doings of the day — and out-of-schdol performances fol- 
lowed as a matter of course. After an interval of a month or more the class 
was invited to present the i^lay again, but such dissatisfaction with their 
product was now voiced by the class leaders that the only solution was revision 
of the play. This was done. Again the reconstruction niid preseniatlon held 
class interest, and they felt repaid when snapshots of the various scenes were 
taken and presented to them as souvenirs of their effoi-t. 

The ever-present doll house was another problem presented ; it showed the 
results of motivated work extendinig over a long period of time. The doll 
house serves so many purposes. In this instance it was used to serve as a 
medium for expression activity along all lines relating to the problem of 
shelter ; the playhouse served as a basis for the reading, language, handwork, 
all made fascinating around this center of interest. The school furnislies 
some material, but not all that is needed, nor shoidd it do so. The children 
brought hatboxes, bits of lace, cloth, tinfoil, etc., from their homes for tlie 
purpose. The making of the house and tlie furnishings occupied a period of 
three or four weeks, possibly six. and culminated in a .school assemldy to 
which different grades were invited in turn. Not only had they found .i<\v in 
the work from day to day, not only were they looking forward to the fun they 
could have with their product, but they were eager to share the results of 
their individual and community efforts with others in the .school. Second 
grades came to view. P^ighth-grade students came to hear these little people 
talk of their achievement, to see the work of their hands. Class spirit and 
school pride were strengthened by this very simple attempt to interpret in 
rational terms the social motive in school work. 

Another letter contained a most interesting report of an occasion which 
might be called " Little Sisters' and Brothers' Day." This teacher conceived 
the idea of entertaining the prospective " next year's crop," as she graphically 
termed them. To this end the children of the first grade worked most earn- 
estly — in reading, to read well ; in story-telling, singing, games, to do their 
very best when " little sisters and brothers came to school." A bit of sweet 
was to be served, so little baskets were made and napkins fringed by the little 
folk now grown big after a year at school. You can imagine the wee guests 
and all the rest. There was a program, with games in which all could take 
part; there was a party. The purpose of the teacher wns to give the incoming 
class a glimpse of that happy place — the school — to establish a friendly rela- 
tionshiii through this one happy afternoon which would give zest to work when 
school days really began. It has something in it worthy of consideration. 

The tinest piece of motivated work is resulting from the local history 
pi-oblem. In this all the teachers and children of the third grade, assisted by 
some of the teachers of the grammar grades and interested persons of the 
conmmnity, are working upon the problem of history material for the third 
grade. A number of pioneer parties or auld lang syne occasions are on the 



10 USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTAEY SCHOOL. 

way toward culmination as the outgi-owth of daily lessons in which excursions 
to historic spots, use of the camera, history stories, oral and written, original 
verse, dramatization will play their part. 

Instances could he multiplied but that is unnecessary. Enough has been 
given to make it clear that there has been an added impetus to a better inter- 
pretation of the principle of motivation in school work through the coopera- 
tion of the teachers. The value lies just here, does it not, that the teacher 
through her own effort and desire to be of service has found a new viewpoint 
and a new vision? 



CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES CONNECTED WITH THE THREE R'S. 

By Elizabeth Hall, 
Assistant Superintendent of Svliools, Minneapolis, Minn. 

A question may be raised as to whether freedom of activity is not too 
frequently thought of as associated with things done with hands and with cer- 
tain kinds of material which are not conveiUional school material. 

Many children in a room create a problem. About four years ago the first 
and second grades were divided into three groups instead of two, and the 
practice was begun of letting these groups go outdoors by turns. When the 
teacher desired to recall them, some signal was put in the window or a child 
was sent out for them. Wlien pupils were permitted to go out and play out of 
doors they would come back refreshed and ready for work, and it was im- 
mensely better for them than to be handed the usual seat work. 

It was found, too, that the [iarents were delighted with this freedom of the 
children when they s;iw the advantages which were being gained. Our climate 
is not the sort that lends itself advantageously to an experiment of this char- 
actei' because it is extreme for many months of the year. That led to the 
cleaning out of storerooms and the establishing of playrooms. 

One group is assigned a study lesson, the assignment being partly verbal 
and partly from directions on the blackboard. When those children have 
finished that assignment they are at liberty to get up and do something. Be- 
fore three-quarters of the time of the study period is over, most of the study 
group of children are not seated in their seats ; one child may be at the black- 
board engaged in some element in penmanship to which his attention has been 
called. Another may be working on arithmetic, or working on the cards which 
lie upon the tnl)le. Two other children may be playing at an arithmetical 
game on the blackboiu'd, one child coaching the other. 

You will find these little group-: around in every corner ; tliere is not a corner 
of the building where there are not two or three children working together. 
They sit do\\'n together in a cosy way in some corner and work together for 10 
or 15 minutes. This method prevents the nervous strain upon the teacher wliirli 
comes from a crowded ro(tm, and which has to he looked after all the time. How 
to break up the routine work and let the little groups scatter out and do this 
self-directed work Axoiild be the sohition of many of the problems of the primary 
teacher who knows how to provide the children with something worth while, 
but who is .so handicapped by the machinery of tlie schoolroom that she has no 
opportunity to free herself from it. 

There are any number of ways in wliicli to teach children to move about and 
" do things " and still be doing things which are associated with the " three R's." 



USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 11 

PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION. 

By Josephine F. Lkacii, 
Direclor of Api)icntice Teaching, Tolclo, Itliio. 

The school system of Toledo is trying to devise measures to gain freedom in 
the primary grades from the administrative standpoint. The average first-grade 
schoolroom, with its stationary furniture and equipment, all necessary to accom- 
modate the great numliers of beginners, is not fitted for the exercise of school 
activities. ' 

In a small way this problem lias been solved in Toledo. The usual equipment 
of the primary room consists of 48 or 50 seats. There are not always 50 children. 
In some of tlie schools where it is knowil that the average attendance never 
reaches 50 the extra seats are removed, thereby giving the first-grade teacher 
room for the playing of games and circle activities. 

The setting aside of a 60-minute handwork period, supervised by the super- 
visor of art, prevented the class teacher from carrying on the work. IMany times 
the problem for the period was worked out from some central office, and resulted 
in an activity that was far above primary children from the standpoint of 
technique. A new distribution of time in the lower grades has done away with 
this period. A great deal more time is given to handwork, but it is being done 
as seat work and the motivation for it comes from the other activities of the 
children. 

Again, it is realized that there are different types of children throughout the 
elementary grades, therefore special grades are being provided, not for deficient 
children but for the children who are motor-minded and get things more quickly 
through the muscles than through the eye or ear. Tliese grades have been 
started, and it is hoped that next year there will be one for the first grade, where 
all the work of that first grade will center about industrial activities and yet 
give to these children the same fundamentals that the children in the other 
type of work are receiving. 

Fourthly, it has been found in some of the districts, where conditions are 
crowded or new buildings are being ei'ected, making half-day sessions for the 
children necessary, that the teacher worked but half a day with her children 
and brought the slow ones back three times a week for special work. She then 
had some time left to go into the homes of the district to visit, and actually 
accomplished more \\ith this plan than did the teacher who had an all-day 
session. It was realized that at some point in the all-day session there was a 
waste of time. Now the upper two-thirds of the first-grade children are dis- 
missed at 10.40 in the morning and the other third remain until 11.30 for 
helpful work. 

When such problems as these are solved from tlie administrative side of the 
scliool system the average primai-y teacher will cooperate in bringing freedom 
into her work. Rut teachers must be brought together and shown what the 
.social motive means. Last yeai- the kindergarten as.sociation brought Mi.ss 
Brown from Teachers College to work a week with the teachers. M rlie 
close of the period the primary teachers were asked to see how much of the 
work could be carried out in tlie first grade. Every week a group of these 
teachers met and brought to the conference any project that they were tryijig. 

In some of the foreign districts a doll was placed in the first grade in order 
to supply the play motive through which might be taught the first laws of 
hvgiene to these children. The children .^ave the doll a bath aiul saw that a 



12 USE OF ACTIVrilES IN THE ELEMKXTAEY SCHOOL. 

c'liild, too, must be batlied once in a while. Now. every teacher who wants to 
do so is encouraged to have a doll in her first-grade room. And, after all, that 
is the big thing. The teacher must icant to do it. Tlie play instinct with tlie 
child is so strong and 'the desire so great that the children immediately begin 
to sew and dress the doll, and then they make furniture for its home. The first- 
grade teacher tells witli entliusiasm how tlie children care for the doll, each day 
dressing it, and each afternoon before school closes getting it rea&y for the 
night and putting it to bed. One day a visitor lifted the covers of the little 
bed and found that the doll had been put to bed without a nightgown. The 
next morning the teacher asked the little boy who had put the doll to bed about 
it. She asked: "Why did you put Betty to bed without a nightgown?" He 
looked at her as if he did not realize what she was talking about. She asked 
him agatn, and at last said : " Don't you know that when you go to bed you 
have on a nightgown? " And the boy replied : " I don't know, for I never had a 
nightgown." 

In addition to solving the problem of greater activity in the primary grades, 
such experiences reveal the home life of the children and prove to us that to 
educate boys and girls we must enter into their lives and influence their mode 
of living as well as teach them five hours each day. 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTIVITY INHERENT IN THE ORDINARY 
SCHOOL SUBJECTS. 

By Alma L. Binzel, 

Director of rrncticc Teachiiirj, Minneapolis, Minn. 

There should be fuller recognition of the fact that in the older school sub- 
jects can also be found occasion for developing social attitudes and habits of 
cooperation and individual ones of resourcefulness and initiative. 

To teach a small group of children in one subject in the elementary depart- 
ment of a normal school is one thing; to teach twice and thrice as many, while 
an equal number are carrying on study at their seats and to teach them all 
from 8 to 10 subjects a day in a public school, is a different thing. No wonder 
the new and young teacher feels somewhat perplexed in her first contact with 
the school system of a large city. With the five young teachers who came to me 
this fall without experience other than normal-school student teaching, I tried 
to emphasize the fundamental necessity of training children to persistent habits 
•of study ; to the prompt and good accomplishment of assignments ; to the avoid- 
ance of dawdling. The time does not permit of any analysis of all that is in- 
volved in these three things ; but one procedure that has proved effective may 
be mentioned ; it should be added to the excellent things that liave already 
been presented ; it is the self-chosen, the self-directed task. 

This type of task often takes its form and content fi-om dramatic and con- 
structive activities ; it should as often take them from the conventional s<-h()ol 
materials. 

There is no reason why children should not move about freely during llieir 
seat study periods in the accomplishment of necessary tasks and with due 
regaud for the rights of other children in recitation work. One young teacher 
succeeds In freeing children during study periods. While she conducts a recita- 
tion with one-half her group, the other half know that newly assigned work 
must be done first and well : that upon its completion, the worker is at liberty 
to choose something else. For everyone there is plenty to do either in perfect- 
ing some bit of skill, making up some lost time, or forging ahead to new aspects. 



USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 13 

The seat study group begins to dissolve. Some go to the wrap hall to en- 
gage each other in speeding up in accuracy or time their arithmetic ; some go to 
the storeroom to engage in oral reading; some go to the blackboard to prac- 
tice penmanship or spelling or arithmetic, each as he feels his greatest need 
at the time. Frequently the children work in pairs ; sometimes the captain 
of a " pronouncing-down " team coaches a weak member on his side ; sometimes 
a child who thinks he has arrived at mastery asks his neighbor to test him 
out ; sometimes a game is started just for the fun of the game. 

A B 3 grade teacher was the first to experiment with this kind of a seat study 
period. From time to time her opinion of it has been asked. Her first com- 
ment was " It makes the order in a room very different from wliat I expected, 
but I think it helps the children." She would undoubtedly subscribe to the 
following as effects of removing unnecessary restraints upon children during 
seat study periods. 

First. It reduces idleness and consequently mischief. Discipline comes 
through worth-wliile activity ; repressive " don'ts " can be eliminated. 

Second. It stimulates all types of children to ambitious attacks upon their 
own peculiar difficulties. 

Third. It reveals the children to themselves and the teacher. It makes her 
look for the changes in the individual child ; it makes her more inteljigent as 
to his limitations and more appreciative of his efforts. She becomes more 
hopeful and patient ; he becomes more persevering and successful. 

If the modern movement of measurement has revealed anything important 
it is that of the varying abilities and achievements of children who are put 
together and labeled this grade or that, only to find as work is assigned to them 
each day, that some can not, some can with difficulty, some just can, and some 
can without exertion, accomplish the task. Any procedure that will aid in 
adjustment of tasks to individuals is worthy of trial. In the self-cliosen, self- 
directed task there is one help toward such adjustment. It is believed that 
it aids in cultivating those traits of independence and cooperation which are 
also among the goals of the newer constructive and dramatic activities of the 
primary grades. 



NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZA- 
TION. 

By Ada Van Stonk Harkis, 
Director of Elementary Practice TeachiiKj, Pittsburijh, Pa. 

The principal work which this organization has to do resolves itself largely 
into a question of organization. A very large percentage of our teachers are 
eager to do this type of work and are eager to put into their classrooms the 
broader activity. The majority of the teachers of the country are seeking light 
and are eager to advance in it, but many of them are working luider such 
liighly organized systems that it is quite impossible for them to do this work, 
even though the desire may be very great. 

The large number of pupils per teacher is a serious problem. This organiza- 
tion should labor to reduce the number of pupils per teacher. Teachers do not 
have enough freedom in their work ; they are obliged to do certain amount:^ of 
work in a given time. One thing which has confronted me for many years has 
been, " Well. I must be at such a place at the end of the semester." Teachers 
must be released from this condition ; it must be made possible for chiefs, school 



14 USE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. 

boards, and school principals to recognize these things, and to give the teachers 
greater freedom. If a teacher has initiative, give her liberty to exercise that 
initiative. 

In the city of Pittsburgh during the past two years movable furniture has 
been installed in the new school buildings in the first and second grades. There 
are now from 20 to 35 rooms in Pittsburgh which have such furniture. One-half 
of each room is furnished with kindergarten tables and chairs, and the other 
half with movable desks and chairs. In that way a teacher is given freedom for 
carrying out the various activities. 

Teachers must also be granted more fi'eedom in their schedule. A teacher can 
not do this type of work when she is obliged to follow a time schedule which 
hangs over her head like an ax, so to speak. 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMEN'T PRINTING OFFICE : 1917 



/ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



022 138 490 8# 



